We currently have a Tecma Silence aboard our boat, and have had problems from the start. Every six months, regular as clock work I have to pull the head, remove the bowl discharge hose, and clean a tiny orifice that bleeds air out of the pump. I now have a spare hose so the process goes more quickly, but what a PAIN! Try going to the PassageMaker site, and searching on "the trouble with Tecma", perhaps in the archives.* It took me a couple years to determine what the problem was, and it's clearly a design flaw that has since been resolved, but I have no idea if the redesigned hose is available in the U.S.* A dealer from Italy saw my post, and sent me a photo of the redesigned hose, but I have never been able to get one here in the states.* ..........Arctic Traveller

Arctic, what happens with the little hole gets plugged?* What are the symptoms?

When the pump empties the bowl, it sucks air at the end.* That air forms an airlock if it can't bleed off, so on the next flush, the pump cavitates* and doesn't empty the bowl.* The discharge hose has a cross connect hose that is designed to bleed off the air after every flush, but it has a really small orifice that continually plugs up.* Every six months I have to pull the toilet (and no matter how much I try to empty the bowl, something always spills) I have two hoses now, so all I have to do is switch hoses, and clean the other one when I have time.* Tecma told me to regularly use CLR to keep it open, but that stuff is expensive, and caused problems with my treatment system. As I said, there is a new hose design, but so far, all I have is a photo of it.* It uses a larger molded hose that must have a much larger I.D.*** Tecma blames my problems on the Alaskan silt, but clearly the fix has been engineered. They should do a recall.* ...........Arctic Traveller

I would like a taller and larger bowl for one and two the Vacuflush vacuum generators are in a small space that I can't fit into without extreme contorsions. I used to get down there when there was no Vacuflush repairman within hundreds of miles (upper Tenn Tom). I have since had a hip replacement and going down there while at anchor or in an emergency is impossible. Here in SW Florida, I think that getting a tech will not be so difficult.

I thought the Tecma was more trouble free. Maybe not after reading the above.

On the first issue, I wonder if I could get a taller, larger Vacuflush toilet that would fit on my existing base unit? That would be an easy install. The reason for this is the hip issue again...especially the taller part.

I thought the Tecma was more trouble free. Maybe not after reading the above.

What I posted was just MY experience, yours may vary.* Techma claims to have never heard of the problem, but strangely they engineered a fix for it anyway.* I also had another problem with Tecma, this time on a different. boat, and a different model.* If you read the story about the Scorpius in the March 2010 issue of PassageMaker magazine, you might remember the part where the toilet flooded the crews quarters.* While we were at dinner, the thing kept running, and once the holding tank filled, it overflowed and pumped most of our potable water into the bilge.* Once I found the problem, I was astounded!* It turns out that after you remove the toilet, and turn it upside down, deep inside is a ton of electrical equipment, including a motor, a big black box that contains micro switches, relays, an electric clock motor, cams and more.* IN A TOILET!* When you press the flush button, a clock motor starts running, turning adjustable cams that contact micro switches controlling relays and turning on the water solenoid and macerator.* If the motor stops running in the middle of the cycle, the water continues to flow, with predictable results.* A sticking micro switch will do the same thing.* Fortunately for us, there was a complete set of spares aboard, and once the mess was cleaned up, it only took a couple hours to get things working again.* I later ordered another set of spares and I can only say, thank god I didn't have to pay for them, they were REALLY expensive. * When talking with the Tecma rep, he mentioned that it was probably a bad design, and is no longer offered.* I'm not sure why they thought a ton of electrical / mechanical stuff was needed under the toilet, but I guess they finally saw the light.** This has been my only experience with Techma, yours may vary........................Arctic Traveller

While on the Tecma topic, I saw all the parts to a Tecma in a Box at Defender yesterday for $100. Sign says everything is there(!) the bowl was cracked in shipping. If anyone is interested, I will ask what model the parts go to.